


Meet me on the edge of forever

by wildimaginingsofhalfbakedideas



Category: Smallville
Genre: philosophical musings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-21
Updated: 2018-04-21
Packaged: 2019-04-25 16:24:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14382450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wildimaginingsofhalfbakedideas/pseuds/wildimaginingsofhalfbakedideas
Summary: Forever. What a terrifying concept.Missing scene from Hourglass.





	Meet me on the edge of forever

Clark sat in the empty field, feeling more alone now than he ever wanted to be. What did Cassandra’s vision mean? Was he meant to outlive everyone he ever loved? Was he meant to live forever? 

That word,  _ forever _ , weighed heavily on his heart. The vision replayed in his mind like a broken record. The names etched on those grey tombstones etched themselves onto his brain: Martha Kent, Jonathan Kent, Lana Lang, Chloe Sullivan, Pete Ross. There were other graves, names he didn't know or didn't yet know. Lois Lane. Diana Prince. Kara Danvers. Some names he recognized, like Bruce Wayne, but he didn't know how their paths could possibly cross or why his grave would be in the vision, but it broke his heart all the more, knowing that it was just another person he would eventually love. And lose. His family and friends liked to joke that he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders, but the weight had never felt heavier than it did in this moment. He didn't know who to turn to in his grief for something that had yet to happen. His parents would try to comfort him, but they wouldn't truly understand. How could they? They were only human.

Clark scoffed out loud at that. Human. Something he decidedly was not. Even on the days he felt most ‘normal’, Clark was an outsider, an alien in every sense of the word. His own body betrayed him whenever he fooled himself into thinking he was human. 

He folded his arms on his knees and bowed his head; it felt too heavy to lift, even with his superior strength. Strangely, he felt no urge to cry. Instead there was just a vast emptiness, broader and more lonely than this field, which stretched as far as the human eye could see in every direction under the bright eye of the sun. 

The wind played with his hair and rustled the grass around him. Even its comforting caress couldn't soothe the pain of knowing he would live  _ forever _ . There it was again. That tiny, evil, ominous word. Clark wished he had never seen the vision. For one, terrible, self-pitying second, Clark wished he had never met Cassandra at all.

That second passed and Clark felt guilty. For all the pain he'd felt at her loss, he was grateful to have known her for the short time that he did. He supposed that was the point: no matter how much or how little time you have with someone, it is worth it for the chance to know them.

Somehow it was little comfort.

In the distance, Clark heard the roar of a familiar engine. It was too powerful, too sophisticated, to belong to any of the Smallville natives’ trucks or cheap vehicles. This was the purr of a sports car, one worth more than most people here made in a year. Lex.

He thought back to the graveyard. Strange, he didn't remember seeing Lex's name on any of the stones. Did that mean he didn't love Lex? Surely not. Lex was he best friend. Would he stop loving Lex before he lost him? He couldn't imagine a future where that was possible. So, why hadn’t his name been among those Clark would eventually lose? Lex had always been a kind of enigma to Clark, evading his understanding every time Clark thought he got close to putting the puzzle together. It was one of his favorite things about the man, but one of the most frustrating things too.

Absently, Clark noticed that he couldn't hear the car's engine anymore. He hadn't noticed it fade into the distance, but then again he hadn't been paying much attention, too absorbed in his own thoughts.

“Clark?” Footsteps whispered in the soft grass. “Are you okay?”

Clark didn't look up. His head still felt too heavy.

“I'm fine,” he lied, his voice muffled by his arms. 

He heard Lex settle down in the grass beside him. He was going to stain one of his expensive suits.

“Bullshit.”

Ordinarily, Clark might have laughed at his friend's candid vulgarity, but right now he didn't have the energy.

“Seriously, Clark, what are you doing way out here looking like your dog just died?”

Clark didn't have an answer for that. The truth felt too complex, to profound to put into words. 

Instead, he answered a question with a question. “What would you do if you found out you were going to live forever and everyone you ever loved was eventually going to be gone and you were going to be left alone?” he asked, turning his head so Lex could hear his voice clearly. 

Lex looked at him, his eyes curious but thoughtful. “Well, I can't say there's too many people I love in this world, so I don't think it would affect me as much. But I will say that sounds like a very lonely eternity.”

“Yeah,” Clark said simply. He looked up at Lex, and from the sideways position his head was in, Clark saw him from a whole new perspective. He no longer looked untouchable and powerful; he looked, well, human. 

“Where is all this philosophical questioning coming from, if I may ask?”

“What if I told you it's not just hypothetical?”

Lex widened his eyes in surprise but took it in stride. “I'd say then that it's no use mourning the deaths of people who are still alive. You may be immortal, Clark, but time still passes the same and you still have plenty of it with the people you love. Hiding yourself away in a field isn't going to help. It's just going to make you regret that you didn't spend that time with those important people.”

Clark picked up his head and stared ahead, mulling over his friend's words. “When did you get so wise, Lex?”

“Since I began having philosophical, not so hypothetical discussions with my friend in an empty field.”

Clark laughed and Lex looked like he had won something, like Clark's laugh had been his whole reason for walking over and getting grass stains on his Armani slacks.

Clark still felt the weight of the world on his shoulders, but it felt lighter knowing he had someone to share it with.


End file.
